By Sen. MANNY VILLAR
THERE is wisdom to the advice that one should separate personal life from work life. Making the distinction would allow employees to have more quality time with their families, for themselves and therefore could potentially be more productive at work. It means less stress, more creativity, and improved well-being. Work-life balance is indeed essential to enjoying life in general.
But it is also true, as a popular quote tells us, that “if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” Understood in another way, this means that you cannot possibly be happy in your personal life if you have a job that you do not love. In other words, you cannot be a happy person and a frustrated worker at the same time.
This is the advantage that entrepreneurs enjoy. Most entrepreneurs love what they do and do what they love. This is the reason why a task – whether simple or complicated – is not seen as a chore but something to be happily accomplished.
Others have to drag themselves out of bed to go to work or go to an early meeting but entrepreneurs enjoy possibilities of talking to other people and collaborating. Others look at the clock waiting for it to strike 5 p.m. so they can get away from work. But entrepreneurs do not even notice how time flies. They look at every minute as an opportunity to do what they love.
But more importantly, while some think of work as a means to survive, entrepreneurs have a deeper sense of fulfillment and gratification. It’s not always about the money. It’s about how happy and fulfilled you are with what you are doing.
I never thought about putting up a coffee shop in order to make huge profits. I did it because I love coffee. I decided to put up Coffee Project because in my own experience I’m more productive if I am not boxed in an office. I want a coffee shop that is conducive to meetings and contemplation. Not too noisy not too quiet. I want to be able to look at its decor and think. The fulfillment of that dream was the Coffee Project – beautifully designed, unique and conducive to discussions, hanging out or studying.
I love watching movies and I love taking my wife to see the latest film. We would go to Makati every Sunday night for our movie date. But why not have the best, state-of-the-art cinemas here in the south? So when we put up cinemas in our malls I made sure that they are the best cinemas. I think people deserve modern, beautiful theaters where they can forget about the outside world even for just a couple of hours.
When we travel to France I always enjoyed visiting boulangeries and patisseries and enjoying freshly baked pastries. It reminded me of a time when I was a kid when we would go to the pugon bakery early in the morning to buy our pandesal for breakfast. That is why we now have Bake My Day.
I would never do, or put up, something I do not love. It is a valuable lesson especially to young Filipinos who are still finding their way in the professional world. Strike that work-life balance but also make sure that you pursue what your heart desires. It is that seamless connection between your personal life and your work that will allow you to live long, happy and productive lives.
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We offer our prayers to those who were devastated by typhoon Ompong. In particular, our hearts go out to those who lost their loved ones because of the typhoon. You can always recover from properties destroyed but losing a loved one is like losing an irreplaceable part of oneself.
The lesson of Ompong is that we need to invest more in strengthening our preparedness, specifically the resilience of local communities before, during and after disasters. Let us all provide a helping hand so that our kababayans can recover from this tragedy.
